It’s referred to as “troopergate” but the McCain campaign is
convinced the investigation into Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s attempts to fire
her ex-brother-in-law, state Trooper Mike Wooten, will show no wrongdoing.
Palin allegedly demanded that Wooten be fired from his job while Wooten was in
the midst of a bitter divorce with her sister. The results of the investigation
will be released a few days before the November election and many theorize that
this is going to be the “October surprise” from the Obama campaign.
The focus of the investigation will surround whether Palin abused her power as
governor by pressuring Public Safety Commissioner, Walt Monegan, to fire
Wooten. After Monegan declined to fire Wooten, Palin asked him to step down.
Investigators will try and figure out if the two incidents are related, Palin
says they are not.
“Monegan, 57, a former chief of the Anchorage Police
Department, said in an interview Friday that during his 19 months on the job
the governor repeatedly mentioned Wooten but ‘never directly asked me to fire
him.’ Monegan said Todd Palin told him that Wooten ‘shouldn't be a trooper.’
‘I've tried to explain to him,’ Monegan said, ‘You can't head-hunt like this.
What you need to do is back off, because if the trooper does make a mistake,
and it is a terminable offense, it can look like political interference. I
think he's emotionally committed in trying to see that his former
brother-in-law is punished.’”
According to The Associated Press, the Palin family accused Wooten of drinking
a beer while in his patrol car, illegal hunting and tasering his 11-year-old
stepson. They also claimed Wooten threatened to kill Sarah Palin's father.
Wooten is currently on the job as a trooper in the Mat-Su Valley region of
Alaska which includes the town of Wasilla, Palin's hometown. The region he
patrols is the size of the state of West Virginia.